Hockey Humor: Diving As An Art - GIF

This even looks better as a GIF. Colgate's Daniel Gentzler is assessed a two-minute minor for tripping. He seems surprised that the Gopher defenseman Justin Holl fell down so easily.

Daniel Gentzler Penalty, embellishment or not?

Colgate's Daniel Gentzler seems surprised that the Gopher defenseman Justin Holl fell down so easily. So, is this embellishment or not?

UND vs. UBC exhibition game lines

UND forward lines

9 Drake Caggiula–19 Rocco Grimaldi–27 Luke Johnson
25 Mark MacMillan–16 Mitch MacMillan–15 Michael Parks (A)
28 Stephane Pattyn (A) –13 Connor Gaarder–11 Derek Rodwell
17 Colten St. Clair–10 Adam Tambellini–7 Wade Murphy
Extra Forward – 22  Andrew Panzarella

UND Defense Pairings

18 Dillon Simpson ©–24 Jordan Schmaltz
4 Keaton Thompson–6 Paul LaDue
5 Nick Mattson–2 Troy Stecher

UND goalies

31 Zane Gothberg
33 Clarke Saunders
30 Matt Hrynkiw

This week at the weekly press conference coach Hakstol said, “This is a business trip.” The team is also using this as a mid-season mini training camp as well.  I was shown the itinerary of the UND hockey team’s trip and there wasn’t a lot of down time.

You can pick up the games on line by going to this link. (Fasthockey.com)

Great West Showcase Games are streamed this weekend

RT if you are Watching Great Northwest Showcase Featuring @UNDsports @puhockey @sfuhockey and @ubctbirds #FHLive pic.twitter.com/17qyjJ5TWm
— FASTHockey (@FASTHOCKEY) January 3, 2014

You can pick up the games on line by going to this link. (Fasthockey.com)

Better save, Varlamov or Fleury?

Good question: Which save was nicer, Semyon Varlamov or Marc-Andre Fleury? I am going with the Russian. Both are great saves though

Derek MacKenzie suspended 3-games for hit on Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Blue Jackets forward Derek MacKenzie has been suspended 3-games by the NHL's Department of Player Safety for this hit on the Phoenix Coyotes Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The bigger shocker, there was no penalty called on this play.

Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn)

Here we are the first weekend of play in 2014.  The first half of the season seems to have flown by.

NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T………Points

St. Cloud St……………….6-1-1…………...19
Nebraska-Omaha…………5-2-1…………..17
North Dakota………………5-5-0……….….15
Denver…………………..…4-3-1…………..14
Colorado College……….. 2-5-3…….….….10
Miami………………………3-5-0….…….….9
Minnesota-Duluth…………2-2-0……….….6
Western Michigan………..2-2-0…………...6 

Non-Conference Games

Brown (5-6-1) @ #17 Denver (10-6-2)

The Bears are 1-5-0 away from home, which is Providence, R.I., if you’re wondering. The Pioneers are 7-3-0 at home in Magness Arena this season.  I think the Pioneers will catch the Bears hibernating this weekend.  Pioneers Win.

Brown (5-6-1) @ Colorado College (2-12-3)

With the Pioneers waking the sleeping Bears, I say the Tigers will feel their rude awaking anger.  Bears Win.

#19 Nebraska-Omaha (8-7-1) @ New Hampshire (10-10-1)

The Mavericks are 3-2-1 on the road this season and the Wildcats are 3-4-1 at home at the Whittemore Center in Durham.  SPLIT

Exhibition Games

North Dakota vs British Columbia (Fri.) vs Simon Fraser (Sat.)

Last action for NoDak was the sweep of the NMU Wildcats in Grand Forks. It has been two years since NoDak has played in great country of Canada.

UND is riding a 5 game winning streak and, well, this won’t officially effect it, since these are exhibition games.  But here to starting the New Year off right, NoDak wins both games.

US U-18 TEAM @ Minnesota-Duluth

Since it is an exhibition game, it is hard to say who wins… I’m sure UMD will use the game to get everyone back on the ice and playing at game speed.  TIE.

US U-18 TEAM @ #4 St. Cloud St.

Same as above, except SCSU wins.

BYE

#12  Miami

Western Michigan

Tyler Seguin goals against the Habs - GIF

That's goals number 21 on the year for Dallas Stars forward  Tyler Seguin. Looks almost like a knuckle-puck to me.

UND Hockey: Is there an outdoor game on the horizon?

This tweet hit Twitter yesterday. It's a great idea. It would be fun to have an outdoor hockey game between UND and UMN. Honestly, outdoor games are for the most part a nice spectacle, to be enjoyed by hockey fans. The Winter Classic was a decent game to watch yesterday.

Some fans think they’re a gimmick. I am on the fence with these things. Seriously, how many of these things are we going to have? I think this year we have hit the over saturation point. What do we have, like 20+ outdoor games this year? At last count, there were something like 23 of them. I might have missed a couple.

Don't plan to wait until 2019. RT@MikeRed22: UND and Minnesota. Target Field. 2019. Make it happen Mr. President.
— Dave St. Peter (@TwinsPrez) January 1, 2014

Related articles

• A New Drinking Game for UND Hockey (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• UND Hockey: Dynamic Duo Bright Spot for UND (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCHC Hockey: No Second Thoughts or Regrets (thehockeywriters.com)

WJHC: Fly-by ends poorly for Russia's Pavel Buchnevich

This is the very reason that I would like the see the fly-by the benches curtailed. There was no reason for the Russian forward Pavel Buchnevich to skate by the American bench taunting the USA players like that. Obviously, Buchnevich would get his just deserts with the stick to upper body. Karma, maybe... I took a little bit of heat for the aricle, I also had some youth hockey coaches that were in agreement with me as well. This was the kind of stuff that I was talking about. I didn't get it in the video but Dave Starman said, "Act like you've been there before."

NCAA Hockey: Time to Do Away With the Fly-By Bench Celebrations http://t.co/Ifoq9Rn82L #hockey
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) December 25, 2013

Related articles

• NCAA Hockey: Time to Do Away With the Fly-By Bench Celebrations (thehockeywriters.com)
• Simon Says Czech Mate: Canada Get Upset at WJHC (thehockeywriters.com)
• WJHC Day One: Washington Capitals Prospects Review (thehockeywriters.com)
• WJHC: Will Mathew Dumba be suspended for a knee hit on Erik Karlsson? (hockeywilderness.com)

WJHC: Speaking of No Class, Russian Bench Taunts USA

(GIF via @PeteBlackburn) We had an old saying in football, you win with class and you lose with class. Nice hand gesture for an adult male. None-the-less, the USA's WJC run is over in 2014, after a 5-3 loss against the Russians.

USA Hockey: Team USA releases their Olympic roster

Here’s the Team USA Olympic Roster, there's a few head-scratchers on this roster. I am surprised that Bobby Ryan, Jason Pominville and Keith Yandle were left off of the team. The question is, who would/should have been left off of the team to make room for these three guys? I am sure we all have our own suggestions. 

Goalies (3)

Ryan Miller/Buffalo Sabres – Michigan State

Jonathan Quick/Los Angeles Kings – UMass Amherst  

Jimmy Howard/Detroit Red Wings – Maine

Defensemen (8)

Brooks Orpik/Pittsburgh Penguins – Boston College
Ryan Suter/Minnesota Wild – Wisconsin
John Carlson/Washington Capitals – London Knights
Justin Faulk/Carolina Hurricanes – Minnesota Duluth
Cam Fowler/Anaheim Ducks – Windsor Spitfires
Paul Martin/Pittsburgh Penguins – Minnesota
Ryan McDonagh/New York Rangers – Wisconsin

Kevin Shattenkirk/St. Louis Blues – Boston University

 Forwards (14)

David Backes/St. Louis Blues – Minnesota State
Dustin Brown/Los Angeles Kings -- Guelph Storm
Ryan Callahan/New York Rangers -- Guelph Storm
Patrick Kane/Chicago Blackhawks --  London Knights
Ryan Kesler/Vancouver Canucks – Ohio State
Phil Kessel/Toronto Maple Leafs – Minnesota

Zach Parise/Minnesota Wild – North Dakota
Joe Pavelski/San Jose Sharks – Wisconsin
Paul Stastny/Colorado Avalanche – Denver
T.J. Oshie/St. Louis Blues – North Dakota
Max Pacioretty/Montreal Canadiens – Michigan
Derek Stepan/New York Rangers – Wisconsin
James van Riemsdyk/Toronto Maple Leafs – New Hampshire
Blake Wheeler/Winnipeg Jets – Minnesota

Don Cherry insults USA, eludes to them not having class

First off, I going to admit that I like Don Cherry, but these comments are a head-scratcher, to me. Here's the comments in question. They can be heard at the 4:00 Minute mark of the video in question:

Don Cherry on the Coach’s Corner said these lovely comments about the WJHC team. “I have always said that class always wins, class will always sell. First, watch team Canada (walking in)…class. I love it. Beautiful! Here's the Americans (walking in). What can I tell you boys. You have class, and then you have that walking in...”

Related articles

• What's going to happen to Don Cherry? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Rogers-NHL deal: CBC's Don Cherry to address nation Saturday night (thestar.com)

USA Women's Hockey: Here’s the USA Women’s Team Roster

Today, the roster for the USA Women's Olympic team was announced during the second period of the Winter Classic. Here's the roster. Here's the players that are going to Sochi, Russia

Goalies
Jessie Vetter — Wisconsin

Molly Schaus — Boston College
Brianne McLaughlin — Robert Morris University

Defensemen
Kacey Bellamy — New Hampshire
Gigi Marvin — Minnesota
Megan Bozek – Minnesota
Michelle Picard – Harvard
Josephine Pucci – Harvard
Anne Schleper – Minnesota
Lee Stecklein – Minnesota

Forwards
Julie Chu — Harvard

Meghan Duggan — Wisconsin
Hilary Knight — Wisconsin

Jocelyne Lamoureux — North Dakota
Monique Lamoureux — North Dakota
Kelli Stack — Boston College
Alex Carpenter –Boston College
Kendall Coyne – Northeastern
Brianna Decker – Wisconsin
Lyndsey Fry – Harvard
Amanda Kessel – Minnesota 

Related articles

• USA Wins Fourth Straight Against Canada (hockeywilderness.com)
• Fists Fly Again on the Road To Sochi for U.S. and Canadian Women (thehockeywriters.com)
• Womens Hockey: USA beats Canada at the Ralph (insidehockey.com)

Winter Classic Humor

s/t Addicted Hockey Fans. The game is going to the dogs.

Yeah in Review 2013

Personally, I think that 2013 was a crummy year, however, it was a very good year for sports. There's been some really nice stories. When it looked like the Boston Bruins were going back to Chicago for game seven, but it wasn't meant to be, as the Blackhawks scored two goals in 17-seconds to win the Stanley Cup over the Boston Bruins.



The last team in the NCAA tourney, wins the NCAA tourney by going through a bunch of one and two seeded teams. Also, Yale becomes the first Ivy League school as well as the first ECAC team since 1989 to win the NCAA title. With the NCAA title win, the ECAC sheds the EZAC label.

The Minnesota Wild sign the big-time free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise in the summer of 2012 and the Minnesota make the Stanley Cup for the first time since the 2006-07 season. However, the Wild playoff drive is short lived as they are quickly dispatched in five games (4-1) by the eventual Stanley Cup champion the Chicago Blackhawks.



After much discussion, hand wringing and teeth gnashing, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference begins play in Oxford, Ohio as North Dakota and Miami play in the first ever game. North Dakota would go on to win game one by a score of 4-2.



The Toronto Maple Leafs looked like they were headed to the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Leafs had what looked like a comfortable 4-1 lead. Then the roof fell in on the Maple Leafs during the third period. The Bruins would move on to face the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.



Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand, aka the Little Ball of Hate, would get things rolling in round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Boston Bruins would win in overtime.

Like I mentioned earlier, personally, for me, 2013 has been one of those years that I will soon hopefully forget, but there's been some great sports stories. Happy New Year and see you next year.

Senators Mika Zibanejad scores on pretty odd-man break (video)

Tic-tac-toe, what a beautiful goal. Ottawa Senators forward Mika Zibanejad in a nice 2-on-1 breakaway with Senators forward Cory Conacher to even the score at 1-1 against the Washington Capitals.

Sid Crosby: Impressive Numbers.

Like him or hate him, Penguins Star Sidney Crosby is an elite hockey player, that has put up some crazy numbers in his short hockey career. Think about this,  (25g-461a—720pts) in 520 games evens out to 1.41 PPG for the All-Star forward. Imagine if he hadn't suffered all of those concussions? If my math is right, Crosby missed  over 100-games due to post concussion syndrome issues. Also, he missed about 20-games due to a ankle injury during the 2008 hockey season.

Related articles

• Ray Shero on the Clock (thehockeywriters.com)

Colorado Avalanche: Don't go in Semyon Varlamov crease

We had an old saying in football, don't go in the kitchen, if you don't want to get hit. Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov was none too pleased with Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien after put his glove in the face of the Av's goalie. It could get ugly next time the two teams play. The two teams play a couple more times in March.

Related articles

• Winnipeg Jets' Dustin Byfuglien taunts Semyon Varlamov, struggling Avs (denverpost.com)

Lambert on the NCHC....

This is what Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy fame had to say about the NCHC on CHN. It would be interesting to see how many college hockey games that he has actually watched this season?

NCHC

Colorado College: This would have to be one hell of a “second-half surge.”
Denver: Yeah, 5-3 sounds just about right for a Denver win at UMass. I very much buy that as a reasonable result.

Miami: Riley Barber as captain of the US World Junior team seems like a no-brainer. One of the few returners, and he's very, very good. Given the amount of ice time he's been eating up for the RedHawks this year, he might never come off the ice in Sweden.

Minnesota-Duluth: The reason Justin Crandall isn't a goalie, and instead is the best forward on UMD this season, is that after his brother Aaron and his dad Jeff both played that position, his mom said he couldn't.

Nebraska-Omaha: I guess that yes, it is fair to say Jake Guentzel and Josh Arbcibald have been "key contributors" for the Mavs this season, given that the latter is a point-a-game player and the former is third on the team in assists as a freshman.

North Dakota: Oh a kid from Grand Forks committed to UND? Seems like that was a slam dunk. They've only been recruiting him his whole life.

St. Cloud: The St. Cloud Times gives the Huskies an “A” for the first half, which they say is “grading on a curve.” No need for a curve, they're just one of the best teams in the country.

Western Michigan: Lawson Arena got a scoreboard upgrade over the summer because NCHC rules mandated it, but apparently any talk about a new arena any time soon is just wishful thinking. “Lawson looks very nice,” said WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard, stretching things a little.

So, we are to  believe that the National Collegiate Hockey Conference was built on entitlement, I find that statement interesting. So, only the Big Ten Hockey Conference was allowed to forward their interests. All others had to stand fast. Actually, if anything, the re-alignment allowed a team (UAH) to find a conference and this will allow for future expansion. I am not convinced that we're done moving teams around, just yet.

This seems not to have stopped the NCHC from trying to make itself more impressive, which is apparently the kind of thing we should have come to expect from a league built on entitlement more than anything else. When the Big Ten was announced, all the “prestige” programs, or whatever you want to call them, that were being left behind in the CCHA and WCHA simply decided that they couldn't be bothered slumming it against these other, lesser programs which were beneath their status and probably contempt, and thus was born the “National” Collegiate Hockey Conference, which is a curious name considering that on a geographical basis it ignores all the parts of the nation not between Ohio and Colorado.

That there was a fan vote to name the finals of the conference tournament is all good and well, and settling on the Frozen Faceoff (perhaps by design not more than a little evocative of “Frozen Four”) earlier this month, which beat out the NCHC Championship, is a little icky but not in the end that big of a deal.